


Not quite Super-Earp

by idk_books



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015), Wynonna Earp (TV)
Genre: Canada, F/F, F/M, Mystery, New Friends, No Aliens, Sanvers - Freeform, Secondment, Wayhaught - Freeform, mission, secrecy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-27
Updated: 2020-12-08
Packaged: 2021-03-08 22:08:06
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 13,892
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27233983
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/idk_books/pseuds/idk_books
Summary: Maggie Sawyer is one of the NCPD’s top detectives and her work with the Science Division often has her at the forefront of any unexplained activity in the city so when an anonymous tip-off arrives from back-water Canada, she is less than thrilled to find that it’s assigned to her. After a slightly frosty start with the local sheriff’s deputy who’s just as confused by her presence as she is, she soon finds herself pulled into the mystery of the Earp curse and the fight against the revenants but the bigger mystery still remains: why is that she has been brought to Canada when it is clear that there are no aliens to be found.
Relationships: Alex Danvers/Maggie Sawyer, Waverly Earp & Wynonna Earp, Waverly Earp/Nicole Haught, Wynonna Earp & Nicole Haught, Wynonna Earp/Doc Holliday
Comments: 7
Kudos: 45





	1. Welcome to Purgatory

**Author's Note:**

> I suspect that this is a crossover that has been explored before but I wanted to try and put my own spin on it. For the purposes of comedy, I truly established Purgatory in Canada even though this has never been clarified. I’ve tried to be deliberately vague about what point in the respective seasons it all takes place but Dolls is alive, the curse hasn’t been broken and Jeremy is nowhere to be seen (mostly because I didn’t feel up to managing that many characters!). Obviously Maggie and Alex are still a thing. I apologise for any plot holes, this is my first time attempting anything where the plot is more important than the relationships!

Detective Maggie Sawyer was pissed. She was often pissed, she might even say that she quite enjoyed it, but this was a rare occasion where she was actually really, fully, properly pissed off. She was good at her job; she’d come to think she was pretty exceptional at it so why on earth was she being sent to Purgatory? Its name alone suggested that it was on the verge of being an actual hell-hole but even that aside, it was in the back-end of nowhere, in Canada of all places. It reeked of being an assignment for one of the department’s many bottom feeders but instead it had landed on her desk. Maybe that was her punishment for never actually being at her desk.

She had no idea that the NCPD had any connection with Canada, let alone tiny towns by the Rockies. But apparently they did and apparently the town was significant enough to merit its own suspected alien attack which was, in turn, important enough to warrant her investigating it. An anonymous tip-off had made its way to her boss with reports of alien activity and despite being seemingly way beyond their jurisdiction, they’d taken it on. Usually reports like this would be in the DEO’s domain but her boss didn’t want to send an organisation as important as them off on some wild (Canada) goose chase. The DEO was not worth pissing off. Pissing her off seemed to be no problem at all though.

Alex, her girlfriend, had loaned her a tonne of heavy winter gear from her trips to the Fortress of Solitude. Her suffering seemed fairly inevitable but she might as well suffer without freezing. The jacket alone took up three quarters of her case so she was forced to wear it instead. This led to an incredibly sweaty cab ride to the airport and an even sweatier trip through departures until she was finally able to shove it into an over head locker on the plane. On the flight, she tried to read up on the case but there wasn’t much to read. All she’d been given was a copy of the email from her boss and her flight details. She was told a representative from the Sheriff’s department would meet her at the airport which hopefully meant she’d get her explanation then.

She was glad of the giant jacket when she stepped off the plane and was confronted with Canada’s best icy blast; the cheerful greetings of the security guard didn’t do anything to warm her up. If anything, it made it worse. Outside departures, she found a red-head with a patrol car and a stetson. “I did think about getting a sign,” she smiled as she took Maggie’s bag, “but then I figured there wouldn’t be many people coming to Purgatory and you’d probably spot the car. Being a detective and all.”

Maggie smiled half-heartedly.

“Anyway, I’m Nicole. Haught. I’m from the sheriff’s department, obviously,” she said, holding out a hand, “You must be Detective Sawyer of the NCPD.”

“Maggie,” Maggie said and reluctantly extracted her hand from a well-insulated pocket.

The car journey was unsurprisingly long. From what she’d read of Purgatory, it hadn’t struck her as a major tourist spot so proximity to the airport had seemed unlikely. They rode in silence, both staring at the road ahead and listening to the tinny radio which was interspersed with occasional static from Nicole’s cop radio.

“That’s a pretty impressive coat,” Nicole said eventually, as her arm caught on the thickness of the thermal monstrosity as she reached up to change the radio station, “we weren’t sure if you’d have the gear you know, coming from the south.”

“It’s actually my girlfriend’s,” Maggie said reticently, “she needs it for uh… cold places,” and she watched carefully for Nicole’s reaction.

“Makes sense,” Nicole nodded, “Despite growing up in Purgatory, my girlfriend still needs four blankets. Plus an emergency blanket.”

Maggie’s eyebrows were raised as she nodded to herself.

“What,” Nicole grinned, catching Maggie’s expression in the rear-view mirror, “You think Purgatory would be too remote to have any lesbians?”

“Something like that,” Maggie muttered.

“Well, I thought the same thing,” Nicole said, still smiling, “and here we are. We even have a Pride now.”

“That’s cool.”

“Well it’s mainly just me and Waverly in rainbow onesies in Shorty’s but it’s a start,” Nicole said, “Anyway, Purgatory doesn’t exactly have many places to stay so I’ve made up the spare room at my place. I spend most of my time at The Homestead, that’s Waverly - my girlfriend’s - place, so you’ll have it to yourself most of the time.”

“Cool, thanks.” Deep down Maggie appreciated the generosity of the statement but Nicole was the only person there for her to direct her frustrations at so the comment was weighted with far more sarcasm than she intended.

Nicole was visibly deflated, “we’re just trying to do our best.”

“I’m sorry,” Maggie said tersely, finding herself committing to being an asshole, “I just don’t really get why I’m here.”

“Yeah?” Nicole said, gripping the steering wheel tighter, “me neither. I just got an email from the NCPD saying someone was being seconded here with no explanation, just your flight details.”

“And that’s all I know too,” Maggie said cautiously. She wasn’t ready yet to reveal the anonymous tip-off: it was the only thing that gave her any kind of edge.

“I just want this to go well,” Nicole said weakly.

“And I just want to be able to do my job. Ideally somewhere where I’m confident of my jurisdiction.”

The journey back to Purgatory continued in a frosty silence both literally and figuratively. The cheesy tunes that the car radio blasted out did nothing to lighten the mood as Nicole pondered what on earth it was that she had done to deserve an asshole of a city cop being seconded to her Purgatory.

***

When they got to Nicole’s house, Nicole wordlessly took her bag into the spare room and headed out with a parting, “I’m going to the homestead. I’ll see you later.”

Maggie sat down on the neatly made bed as a ginger cat threaded its way suspiciously through her ankles. She was stuck there. Nicole hadn’t left her any keys; she didn’t even have her number and she was suddenly regretting her bluntness in the car. Unpacking was the only thing she had to occupy herself so she took her time with it. Alex’s woolly socks alone took up an entire drawer in the bureau Nicole had cleared for her. She had clearly gone out of her way to ensure that she had her own space and to make her welcome and the guilt of her behaviour in the car gnawed away at Maggie even more. When she at last ventured into the living room, she found a note with Nicole’s number, a bottle opener and instructions to raid the fridge. She was evidently not one to harbour a grudge. That or the beer was poisoned.

Maggie grabbed the bottle opener and headed towards the kitchen, dialling her phone as she went, “Hey, Danvers!”

Alex picked up straight away, “Sawyer! How’s The Great White North?”

“Cold,” Maggie said, already feeling lighter for hearing Alex’s voice.

“Good job you’ve got all that winter gear,” she could hear the smile in Alex’s voice down the phone.

“You know, I never thought I’d say this but I’m not sure I’ve got enough thick, woollen socks.”

“Told you,” Alex said triumphantly, “so, how are the people of Purgatory?”

“Well, I’ve only met one so far and I think I kinda pissed her off.”

“Oh Mags…,” Alex sighed, “what did you do?”

“I think I was a bit too honest about how I felt about being here,” Maggie admitted.

“Ok…” Alex said slowly.

“She’s a cop. The cop.”

“Ah.”

Maggie took a slow intake of breath, “And I’m staying with her.”

Alex’s silence said enough.

“The worst thing is, I think she might actually be nice. She’s gone out to her girlfriend’s and she left me a note and some beer.”

“What did the note say? You’re an ass. Hope you choke on the beer?”

“It was really sweet. Even in spite of everything.”

“She sounds like a jerk,” Alex said sarcastically.

“I know.”

“Just make sure you apologise. I know you’re not a fan especially when it seems that maybe, just maybe you were wrong.”

“What if she never comes back?”

“It’s her house. She’s gonna come back. Just sit up and wait for her. Trust me, this is not something you want to sleep on.”

“I know.”

“I love you,” Alex said, “Don’t hide from this even though I know you want to. Otherwise it’ll only get worse.”

“I love you too,” and Maggie settled herself on the couch with a beer and a somewhat guilty conscience to wait for the opportunity to make amends to come home.

***

“Oh hey!” Nicole was clearly surprised to see her, “you didn’t need to wait up.”

Maggie had been sat tensely on the sofa for almost two hours, the beer bottle was warm in her hands and now missing its label, “Well, you know, I wasn’t sure about the hot water situation,” she said.

“Oh. Well…” Nicole was clearly preparing to launch into an in depth explanation of her boiler.

“What I mean to say is,” Maggie said quickly, “I think we got off on the wrong foot and I wanted to apologise.”

Nicole paused partway through removing her scarf.

“Thank-you for letting me crash here,” Maggie continued, “I’ve got to say, I’m very impressed you’ve got a spare room. We share a studio in the city.”

Nicole shrugged, “Real estate prices are pretty reasonable around here.”

“Anyway. I’m sorry I was an asshole earlier,” Maggie stood up to meet Nicole’s eye.

“Me too,” Nicole said, still frozen by the front door.

Maggie sat back down and gestured to the space on the sofa next to her, “Shall we start again?”

“I think that might be a good idea,” Nicole said and grabbed a beer before settling down in the arm chair opposite Maggie.

“So,” they both said at the same time.

“I’ll go first,” Maggie said and swallowed a swig of beer, “As you know, I don’t really want to be here but after some prompting from my very patient girlfriend,” she said carefully, “I’ve realised that that’s not your fault and I shouldn’t have taken it out on you. Especially as you’ve stopped me from winding up in some motel even further into the middle of nowhere. So I’m sorry.”

“You’d have to be a way bigger asshole for me to condemn you to that,” Nicole grinned, “And apology accepted. It’s all kinds of weird that you’ve been seconded here and it doesn’t really make any sense and I guess if I were you, I’d be pretty frustrated too. But you’re here now and I promise it’s not as bad as you think.”

“Oh yeah, there’s Purgatory pride.”

“Exactly.”

“Speaking of pride, I did wonder if you’d be staying over at you girlfriends?”

“Well, I was keen to stay but she also prompted me to come back here and bury the hatchet.”

Maggie laughed, “I don’t think I could blame you if you didn’t come back.”

“So what about your girlfriend?” Nicole said, leaning forward slightly in her chair, “Is she a cop too?”

“Erm, not quite. She works for the government,” Maggie said vaguely, “although you remind me of her a bit. I think it might be the hair and the… kindness, What about Waverly?” she said quickly, “What’s she like?”

Nicole leaned back in her chair, a quiet smile on her face, “she’s just… incredible.”

“What does she do?” Maggie asked, keen to snap Nicole out of whatever trance she was entering

“Erm… she was a bartender,” Nicole said, matching Maggie’s cageyness when describing her girlfriend’s job, “Now she does research.”

“She’s studying?”

“Something like that,” Nicole said, “her bartending’s actually a kind of funny story. It’s where we first met…”

“Bars have played a pretty significant role in mine and Alex’s story,” Maggie smiled.

“That’s her name?”

“Alex? Yeah. Danvers,” Maggie smiled to herself.

“I bet it was hard to leave her,” Nicole said sympathetically.

“Yeah.”

“Hopefully it won’t be for too long,” Nicole said.

“You trying to get rid of me already?”

“No! It’s just I couldn’t imagine being apart from Waves for more than a day.”

Maggie finished her beer, “So how long do you think I’ll be here for?”

“I really don’t know,” Nicole said, “ I’ve told you everything I know. I guess we’ll have to see what Nedley - the sheriff - has in mind when we go in tomorrow.”

“And he knows I’m coming right?”

“Of course! At least I hope he does. The email was sent to him as well but he’s not the most tech savvy so…”

Maggie’s jaw clenched reflexively, “Great.”

“Hey, if it seems you’ll be here for a while, you could always invite Alex. Make it a romantic getaway,” Nicole said mischievously.

“Purgatory is quite the idyllic vacation spot,” Maggie laughed, “but I’m not sure how she’d feel about the cold.”

“But she had all the gear,” Nicole exclaimed.

“But now she’s loaned it all to me so…” Maggie shrugged.

“Good point,” Nicole smiled, “we should probably get to bed though. Nedley’s expecting us bright and early tomorrow at the station. That is if he remembers you’re coming.”

Maggie stood up and Nicole took her now empty beer bottle off her and took it into the kitchen and Maggie heard the clink of them being put in with the recycling.

Her head reappeared from the kitchen, “Come on, I’ll show you the bathroom and explain the temperamental shower.”


	2. Does Canada even have bagels?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nicole takes Maggie for her first day of work where any attempt at getting to the bottom of why she is there is proved futile. It doesn’t take long for her to find herself in Shorty’s and being introduced to the best people Purgatory has to offer.

The following morning, Maggie was woken by the smell of bacon and coffee. She was starting to think that Nicole’s kindness would be the breaking of her. “Don’t tell Waverly about the bacon when you meet her,” Nicole said, “she’s vegan and pretty serious about it but I couldn’t inflict fake bacon on you for your first Canadian breakfast. Wait. You’re not vegan are you?”

Maggie shook her head and took a forkful of bacon to prove her point, wondering if they had bagels and toasters in Canada. Nicole was already dressed in a navy shirt and pants but the top button of her shirt was undone, something she’d never get away with in National City. She did however have a rather impressive brown leather belt with a holster laying on the counter and Maggie suddenly missed her gun but there’d have been no way of getting it through airport security.

After breakfast, Nicole gave her a moment to gather her stuff - not that there was much to gather - before ushering her back into the patrol car. The journey was much shorter and much less awkward than the one from the previous day and Nicole didn’t even need to turn the radio on to fill any silences as she gave a greatly edited over-view of the town.

When Nicole pulled up outside the Sheriff’s Department, Maggie stared open-mouthed at its shabby exterior. It was a poorly constructed shed in comparison to what she was used to at the NCPD. She suddenly missed National City not just for its warm weather and it being the home of her girlfriend but for the symphony of resources the NCPD had which she certainly wouldn’t have here. Nicole lead her through a sparsely decorated reception area to the back office where a bearded, rounded figure stood awkwardly next to a desk, the contents of which had clearly been recently swept into the trash can next to it leaving it completely bare.

“Sheriff,” Nicole announced, “this is Detective Maggie Sawyer from the NCPD.”

“Of course,” he smiled and held out a sweaty hand, “I’m Sheriff Nedley. We, uh, cleared you a desk. I’m sure Officer Haught will help you get settled. I’m… uh… just going to find those case files.”

“Is he always like that?” Maggie asked, eyeing the sparseness of the desk and the notable absence of a computer.

“He just gets nervous around new people,” Nicole explained, “I’m just glad he remembered you were coming.”

“And he’s the sheriff?”

“And he’s a really good one,” Nicole said defensively before catching herself, “Sorry. He’s just not that great at first impressions but he’s the best boss I’ve ever had.”

“Yeah, no, he seems great,” Maggie said, “I’ve worked with way worse anyway. This my desk?” she gestured at the barren surface.

Nicole nodded, biting her bottom lip worriedly.

“It’s minimalist.”

“I can probably find you a pen and a pad,” Nicole offered with a smile.

“Any chance of a computer?”

“Not at all. You’re going to have to go old school and she handed Maggie a half empty legal pad.” I mean you can use mine but it’s only really good for playing solitaire.”

“Everyone loves solitaire.”

“Exactly! Defeating that thing can sometimes be the most exciting thing that happens on a shift.”

“It’s like that, huh?”

“Welcome to small town Canada,” Nicole said unenthusiastically.

“Great,” Maggie said, the clenched jaw returning, and she flopped into the chair and fell straight off it as the pneumatic pump gave way.

Nicole bit her lip, trying hard not to laugh, “I’ll get you another chair,” she said as Maggie scrabbled for the shreds of her dignity and picked herself off the floor.

***

The chair Nicole found for her wasn’t much better. It had clearly been salvaged from the waiting room and it squeaked and had several suspicious looking stains. Before his all too speedy exit earlier, Nedley had left her a single file to ‘fill her in’ on life in Purgatory but what she’d been left could barely be described as a file. Inside its manilla fold was a single sheet of paper with misspelt notes detailing some unexplained happenings in the town much of which read like a bad Halloween story. She glanced up to a quiz Nicole on what the hell it was that was going on and the role she was expected to play in it all but realised very quickly that she was not going to get her attention any time soon. Nicole was leaning up against the civilian counter staring dreamily into the eyes of the petite figure on the other side who must have been Waverly. Maggie realised that any interruption would most likely prove futile and left them to it. Filling in the many gaps of the report could wait for now. With nothing else to do, Maggie just watched the two of them talk. She hoped that was what her and Alex looked like when they were together as even from a distance they did seem like a sickeningly perfect couple. When Nicole eventually turned away, Maggie scrabbled for the pen and the file to cover up her stares.

“I’m gonna go for lunch,” Nicole said and her gesture at Waverly was all the explanation that was needed.

“Sure, no worries,” Maggie said, as the two figures were already headed out of the door. In the absence of everyone, Maggie became determined to make the most of her time alone and try to get to the bottom of the situation she’d found herself in and headed for Nicole’s desk, taking in the plethora of post-it notes. A nudge of the mouse revealed a half finished game of solitaire. No password protection. What was wrong with this place? She clicked her way onto the database which was, frustratingly (and surprisingly), password protected. She then noticed a post-it note, stuck amongst many, to the frame of the monitor with Calam!ty_W@ves written neatly on it. Solid password. Less than solid idea to leave it stuck to the computer but she had to thank Nicole for her apparent absent-mindedness. She quickly tapped it in and started her cyber rummage.

There was nothing: Purgatory was apparently a town of boredom and stereotypes. The database presented an endless list of DUIs, petty theft and sexual harassment. There was no mention of anything unremarkable: no aliens, no zombies, not even an unexplained body. She exited the search and stood up disappointed from Nicole’s desk. As she looked around the office, she remembered Nicole’s was not the only computer or office for her to look for and having a good ol’ fashioned snoop might be the only way to get to the bottom of whatever it was that was happening. There had to be aliens if the tip-off was anything to go on, and it was the only thing she had to go on, or at least a lot more than what was outlined in the pitiful file she’d been left. There were several filing cabinets dotted around - all unlocked - but they held as much information as Nicole’s computer. Nedley’s office was just as sparse; more space had been afforded to his mug collection than to police paperwork.

As she retreated out of his office, closing the door quietly behind her, she spotted a door across from her that she hadn’t noticed before. Nicole hadn’t really given her much of a tour but she had pointed out the toilets, kitchen and Nedley’s office. She had, however, completely avoided this door so Maggie hadn’t noticed it until it was directly in front of her. The blinds on the glass partition were closed as were the ones on the window in the door. And it was locked. Given how lax the security was with everything else, this suggested that whatever was in the office could well be at the root of why it was she was there. Just as she was about to start another rummage through the drawers and Nedley’s mug collection in a hunt for the key or something to pick the lock with, Nedley reappeared. He shuffled awkwardly into the office and forced her to lean in a faux-nonchalant pose against the wall which he thankfully ignored, “If you wanna go and get some lunch, I can take over from here,” he said, clearing his throat, “Nicole’s in Shorty’s so you could go there and join her. She could introduce you to some people.”

“Thanks,” Maggie said, reaching for her jacket and shrugging it on and patting its pocket to check for her wallet. The door would have to wait.

“Shorty’s is just across the way there, you can’t miss it,” he said and settled into his chair. Maggie was envious of its structural integrity. She also, with her detective’s intuition, knew he was just desperate to get rid of her so he could have some peace and quiet free of any difficult questions.

***

Shorty’s saloon was conveniently just across the street from the office and it reminded her of the dive bar back in National City. Its low ceiling and prominent pool table coupled with some intriguing looking customers felt comfortingly familiar but she wished it was Alex she saw bent over the pool table instead of the scruffy guy with too much of his ass crack peering out over the top of his waistband.

She’d made it past the pool table and was walking uncertainly towards the bar when she heard her name being called. Nicole was sat in a booth in the corner surrounded by people one of whom Maggie recognised from before as Waverly. The others all seemed to fit in very well with the rest of the bar’s clientele. They all shuffled up to make room for Maggie but Nicole managed to keep her arm draped around Waverly’s shoulder throughout the shift in position.

“This is Maggie. She’s come up from National City to help us with some top secret project,” Nicole explained as she settled in the booth.

“It’s so top secret that even I don’t know what it is,” Maggie quipped.

The slim figure opposite raised an eyebrow, “That’s how we roll here,” she retorted and took a swig of beer.

“And now you’ve met Wynonna,” Nicole said before standing up, “Maggie, what can I get you?”

“Uh, diet coke, please,” she said and Wynonna scoffed and rolled her eyes at her response.

“Are you sure?” Nicole asked, glancing at the array of beer and shot glasses on the table.

“Aren’t we working?” Maggie asked, puzzled.

“That rarely stops us here,” Wynonna said and downed her drink to prove it.

“She does have a good point,” Nicole smiled, “and I suspect Nedley’d be glad if we took the afternoon off. We wouldn’t want to interrupt his afternoon nap time.”

“In which case,” Maggie smiled, her eyes flashing with excitement, “I’ll start with a beer.”

“Start with,” Wynonna grinned, “you’re starting to turn things around, city chick.”

“You can all introduce yourselves while I’m gone,” Nicole said to the table as she headed to the bar, her place held at the table by her stetson.

“It’s so exciting to finally meet you,” Waverley grinned, “I’m Waverley,” she added, “Nicole’s girlfriend.”

“I figured,” Maggie said, “I saw you two at the station earlier. You’re a cute couple.”

“The cutest,” Wynonna said sarcastically, “and one of the noisiest.”

“Wynonna!” Waverley exclaimed, her face reddening, before turning back to Maggie, “and this is Wynonna. My sister.”

“Older sister. That’s important,” Wynonna added.

“And this is Doc,” Waverley said, gesturing to the heavily moustached figure sat opposite.

“I must say, it is a delight to meet such a beautiful lady,” he drawled in a heavy southern accent, maintaining direct eye contact with her. Maggie smiled back thinking about how fun this situation had the potential to be as he leaned forward to continue the flirtation.

Then, Nicole returned to the table, setting beers in front of everyone. Wynonna had already grabbed hers from the tray before Nicole had begun their distribution and a third of it was gone by the time Maggie had registered that Nicole was back, “Hey, Haught stuff!” Wynonna called, “How about some more shots next time? Really get things going.”

“There’s no way I’m buying another round, Wynonna,” Nicole responded, “You should just get a job.”

“I have a job,” Wynonna whined.

“All the more reason to stop scrounging off me. One of the benefits of employment is that you can usually afford to get your own drinks.”

“Or one of the benefits of being employed in the same place as you sister’s girlfriend,” Wynonna began.

Maggie spluttered into her glass in shock.

“Is that,” Wynonna continued, throwing a dirty look in Maggie’s direction, “You can take advantage of your wannabe sister-in-law’s eagerness to please and get her to buy drinks for you.”

Nicole frowned, her mouth opening and closing like a stunned goldfish as she tried to come up with witty response.

“And I think I win,” Wynonna murmured and finished off her drink. She left her empty glass in front of Nicole with an expectant look.

Doc reached over to take the glass and managed to diffuse a situation that had suddenly become very tense, “Nicole,” he drawled, “you did not tell me that your new colleague is such a fine example of the female species.”

Nicole looked at Maggie before they both started laughing with Waverly quickly joining them as Doc and Wynonna looked on, utterly bewildered.

“I think my girlfriend would agree with you,” Maggie said, enjoying watching Doc’s jaw drop open.

“Do they put that on the recruitment posters?” Wynonna said, “Must be willing to eat…”

“I’m going to stop you there,” Nicole said quickly.

“If you’d arrived a couple of weeks ago, you could have gone to Purgatory Pride,” Waverly said.

“Nicole mentioned that,” Maggie said, “You know I’m actually sad to have missed the rainbow onesies.”

“They’re the best!” Waverly grinned, “maybe next year?”

“God I hope I’m not here that long. I mean,” She added as Waverly’s face fell, “I could always visit again.”

“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves, city chick,” Wynonna said as she at last made her way to the bar.

The afternoon at the bar quickly became an evening in the bar and Maggie rapidly lost count of how many drinks she’d bought and consumed but this also meant that she no longer cared.


	3. What's behind the door?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The morning after the night before finds Maggie hungover at the sheriff’s department receiving a comprehensive education in all things revenant. After these surprising revelation, she finally lets on about her theories about why she’s there and it’s clear they really don’t match up with what the others had in mind and Nicole is especially disappointed to find that Supergirl is real.

After the night of gleeful debauchery, or something like that, they must have left Shorty’s and found their way back to Nicole’s as Maggie had woken up in the correct bed in her temporary Canadian home. She grimaced when she rolled over as her brain had a delayed reaction to her movement and seemed to clunk around her skull. A glance at her phone revealed a legacy of misspelt messages of adoration to Alex and responses that that were just arriving with hangover cure suggestions. A flash of memory of the previous morning’s sickeningly sweet breakfast coffee was enough to spur her out of bed: nothing was more likely to bring the previous night hurling back up than Nicole’s sugar and creamer rich brew.

She stumbled into the kitchen, relieved that Nicole wasn’t up yet - assuming she’d made it back at all. As the coffee machine did its work, she stood with her forehead resting on the cool door of the refrigerator replaying the flashes of the previous night she could remember. She remembered a lot of shots and Wynonna smiling at her… maybe once… probably because she was the subject of one of her jokes… She was just trying to remember how many times she’d bought a round when she realised she was no longer alone in the kitchen.

“Good morning,” Waverly said, far too cheerfully, “Did you sleep well?”

“It was great until I woke up,” Maggie moaned and shaded her eyes from the kitchen light that Waverly had flipped on.

“Nights with Wynonna can have that effect on people,” Waverly said, “Thanks for putting the coffee on!”

“No problem.”

Waverly settled herself against the counter, still looking far more cheerful than the amount of alcohol consumed the previous night should allow, “Are you here because Dolls is on vacation?” she asked.

“Huh?” Maggie mumbled and peeled herself away from the fridge. Waverly was pouring the coffee and she hurriedly grabbed the mug before anything could be added to it. “Who are the dolls?”

“Dolls is just one person,” Waverly smiled. Nicole appeared, “Good morning,” Waverly murmured as she leaned into Nicole’s embrace. “Anyway,” she continued - remembering Maggie’s presence, “Dolls is from--”

“South of the border,” Nicole interrupted, “He was working with, uh, a cross-border task force. Like you, I guess. Gave him jurisdiction around here.”

“And I’ve got jurisdiction too?” Maggie asked hopefully.

“I’ll have to check,” Nicole said, sipping coffee and still holding hands with Waverly.

“Great,” Maggie said, rolling her eyes, “what time are we heading in?”

Nicole checked her watch, “Uh, about half an hour but Nedley’s pretty relaxed about punctuality.”

“That figures,” Maggie muttered to herself.

“But even so, we should probably get going soon,” Nicole said and glanced at the over sized t-shirt Maggie was still wearing.

“Can I still see you at lunch?” Waverly asked, staring eagerly up at Nicole.

“Of course!” Nicole grinned dopily back, “You can come in earlier than that if you like. We’ll probably need your help.”

Maggie stared in disbelief over the rim of her mug: her coming to work with Alex was one thing as their departments overlapped quite a lot but she wasn’t really sure why Nicole would need Waverly and her ‘research’ in the Sheriff’s department.

“I was hoping you’d say that!” Waverly exclaimed and reached up to kiss her.

As this went on, Maggie stared into her coffee before slowly backing out of the kitchen. It was clear that Waverly and Nicole had forgotten she was there and Maggie wished again that she had Alex there with her so she’d feel less of a third wheel. The days where she brought her girlfriend to work seemed all too distant. 

***

Wynonna was waiting for them at the Sheriff’s office. Maggie was taken aback by how unperturbed Nicole was by the presence of her girlffriend’s sister in her place of work until she remembered the bickering about working with sister-in-laws from the previous afternoon. She was sat in Nicole’s chair methodically covering the entire monitor in post-its, “What’s up Haught stuff,” she called as they entered, “City chick,” she added with a nod to Maggie.

“Wynonna, are you ok?” Nicole asked, “I know we’re running late but it’s not like you to get here early.”

“Well, I didn’t quite make it to bed so I just came straight here,” she said as she triumphantly stuck the last post-it down.

“Makes sense,” Nicole said with a shrug. Maggie couldn’t quite believe what she was seeing. These kind of antics would never pass muster at the NCPD but in Purgatory, it very much seemed to be the norm.

“Wait? You really work here?” Maggie asked as she settled herself carefully at her desk.

“Oh yes!” Wynonna said gleefully.

“Wynonna’s a deputy with…” Nicole began before looking at Wynonna for permission to continue.

“I’ll tell you mine if you tell me yours,” Wynonna said, “Who knows we might even end up telling the same thing,” she stared piercingly at Maggie.

“I think you should start,” Maggie said, challengingly holding Wynonna’s gaze. “Maybe you could start with what’s behind that door.” She gestured at the locked door which had become virtually the only thing she could think about. Nicole looked uncomfortably at Wynonna who just looked uncomfortably back at her.

“Well now I’m interested,” Maggie said, breaking the silence.

“You can’t go in there,” Wynonna said simply.

“The locked door was a pretty good indication of that,” Maggie said stepping towards Wynonna, “Look, the fact that I’ve been sent here is evidence enough that weird stuff is happening here and nobody is telling me anything and now, in a Sheriff’s department with zero security there’s a locked door and you’re all acting like you’ve kidnapped the president.”

“Technically we have a Prime Minister here,” Nicole said sheepishly.

“So you’re not with Black Badge?” Wynonna asked.

“What’s Black Badge?” Maggie asked, confused, “I’m with the NCPD.”

“I think we might have to tell her,” Wynonna said, talking to Nicole as if Maggie wasn’t there. This was starting to become the theme of her time in Purgatory so she sat back in her chair, wincing at the bright lights as the conversation happened around her.

“I think we’re gonna have to,” Nicole said.

“You don’t want her beating your solitaire record because there isn’t anything else for her to do.”

“Ok,” Nicole said, turning to Maggie at last, “I’m gonna start off by saying I had to figure all this stuff out myself so you’re very lucky that you’re being told this off the bat.”

“Alright,” Maggie said. She leaned forward in her chair, her curiosity piqued.

“What Nicole is trying to say is there’s a lot of weird shit happening and it’s all my family’s fault,” Wynonna said almost proudly.

“Wait!” Maggie exclaimed, her brain suddenly working the quickest it had done in a number of days, “You’re an alien?”

“What!” Wynonna and Nicole said simultaneously.

“You’re not an alien?” Maggie said slowly. “But is there an alien?” she offered instead.

“Sadly, no,” Wynonna said, frowning, “but why in the name of all that is alcoholic would you think that?”

“I’m from the science division of the NCPD,” Maggie said.

“Ah, see, I flunked out of freshman chemistry so you’re gonna need to give me a bit more of an explanation,” Wynonna said, still not moving from Nicole’s chair.

Maggie took a slow intake of breath, “I don’t know that I can,” she said carefully.

“Look Little Miss Einstein,” Wynonna said, her face darkening slightly, “Why don’t we just agree that we’ll show you ours if you show us yours?”

“What Wynonna means to say,” Nicole interjected, “is you can trust us. We’ve got some pretty weird… shit.. happening so whatever your weird shit is, we can probably match it.”

“OK. But this cannot go anywhere,” Maggie began, “The NCPD science division handles all cases involving aliens and other… things that go bump in the night,” It was a spiel that was well practised but she still got a thrill out of saying it.

“Things that go bump in the night we can definitely do but I’m gonna need to hear more about those aliens,” Nicole said.

Maggie looked surprised, “You mean you haven’t heard about them before?”

“Nope,” Nicole and Wynonna shook their heads.

“We’ve had a butt load of alien attacks. Hence the special division?” Maggie offered, “They’re all over the news. We work with a top secret government agency, which you wouldn’t have heard of because it’s, you know, top secret.” She tried again as Wynonna and Nicole were giving her nothing, “The alien amnesty act? Supergirl? Heard of her? We work with her sometimes.”

“You’re trying to tell us that Supergirl’s real?” Nicole said with a look of suspicion and barely concealed excitement, “Waverly loves her.”

“Yeah?” Maggie said flatly, “You really never watch the news?”

“Nope, not really,” Wynonna said, spinning on the chair, “We’ve been a bit busy but I’m sure we’ll get onto it once we’ve removed the comic book from your ass.”

“Ok. Fine. Google it,” Maggie said, holding her hands up in defeat, “tell me about your things that go bump in the night.”

“Before we start, you’re definitely NCPD?” Nicole said, finally pushing Wynonna out of her chair.

“Yes, I’ve got the badge and the jacket to prove it,” Maggie said and threw her wallet at Nicole.

Nicole picked It up and inspected it carefully, “Definitely not the BBD checking up on us as Dolls isn’t here right now?”

Maggie shook her head, “Is that the Black Badge thing? I still have no idea what that is.”

“Ok. We might get onto that later,” Wynonna said cryptically. She took Maggie’s badge off Nicole and smirked at the picture before throwing it back to Maggie, “Anyway. A bunch of time ago, my Great Great Grandfather Wyatt Earp - you might have heard of him,” Maggie shook her head, “Nope, ok? I guess we’re even. Anyhow. He killed a lot of people. The bad guys. But for whatever reason, the Earp line is cursed and whenever the heir turns 27 - that’s me - all the bad guys come back and it’s my job to hunt ‘em all down.”

Maggie blinked several times, “Well. That was not what I expected.”

“Pretty cool though?” Nicole said.

“I mean, I do work with an actual alien to fight actual aliens,” Maggie shrugged, “but I gotta admit, it’s certainly new.”

“Welcome to Purgatory,” Wynonna said, holding out her arms.

“So what do you need me for?” Maggie asked.

“That is actually the real mystery,” Nicole said, “We have no idea why you’re here. We’ve had dealings with… other agencies.”

“Dolls and his Black Badge?” Maggie asked.

Nicole nodded, “We just got a message through saying you were being seconded here. We just assumed you’d been sent to help with our, uh, situation but they didn’t actually give us any information.”

“So you told me all that without being sure? What if I was just here to check up on parking restrictions.”

“Haughty’s got that covered. She loves an excuse for the old hi-vis,” Wynonna grinned.

“And besides, you told us about aliens first,” Nicole added.

“Yeah but you just need to watch the news to find all that out,” Maggie replied.

“Well as we told you, we’ve been a bit busy with some revenant hunting,” Wynonna said.

“Ok, ok,” Nicole said, stepping between them, “Maggie, you’re here now. Sorry there aren’t any aliens but you may as well come along for the ride because we sure as hell don’t have anything else for you to do.”

“What’s the worst that can happen?” Maggie said. She wondered if maybe she should have told them about the tip-off but she wasn’t sure she was ready for the paranoia and infighting that revelations like that usually bring. Besides, it wouldn’t change anything anyway.


	4. I'm gonna need a gun

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After a comprehensive crash course in revenants from Waverly, it’s not long until Maggie’s meeting one for herself. She realises the thrill of this latest discovery is too much for her to enjoy alone and sends a request for back up to the city.

It turned out that ancestral enemies returning from the grave was only the beginning, Wynonna - after a considerable amount of persuasion from Nicole - had started to take Maggie through the revenants that she’d taken down and explaining the ones that were yet to be got when Waverly marched into the office. The piece of paper that Nedley had given her bore almost no resemblance to the reality of the situation. He’d probably just made it up so it looked like he was in control of the situation.

“Hey babe!” Nicole said, that already familiar dopey smile playing across her face, “I was hoping you’d show up.”

“I know you were. I would’ve got here sooner but I wanted to make sure I was 100% prepared for Maggie’s questions.”

“Sounds like you’ve thought about this a lot more than me,” Wynonna said, standing up immediately, “Whaddup lil sis. You’re up.” and she tossed a file at Waverly which she missed, scattering sheets of paper and photographs across the office. “Waverly. Stop making such a mess, God!” Wynonna said as she stalked out of the room.

Waverly hurriedly gathered up all the papers and positioned herself in Wynonna’s vacated seat and started reordering them, “So, I’m guessing Nicole and Wynonna explained the whole curse thing we have going on here.”

“They did,” Maggie said.

“And Maggie filled us in on all the aliens they have in National City,” Nicole added.

“Oh yeah! I wanted to ask you about that,” Waverly said excitedly.

“Wait! You know about all that already, Waves?” Nicole said, clearly surprised.

“Of course! I check the news.”

“Huh!” Nicole swivelled in her chair and returned to frantically tapping at her keyboard.

“Tell me, Maggie,” Waverly continued in a voice heavy with expectation, “Have you met Supergirl?”

“I have actually,” Maggie said, enjoying seeing Waverly’s jaw drop open, “she works pretty closely with my girlfriend.”

“She does!” Waverly seemed nearly beside herself with excitement. “A real life superhero,” she said wistfully.

“I mean, you could say that my job kinda makes me a superhero,” Nicole said eagerly.

“Yeah but can you fly?” Waverly said quickly before taking in Nicole’s slightly hurt expression, “But you’re still perfect, baby. You’re my supergirl,” she glanced across at Maggie and blushed, “so are you and your girlfriend this cute?”

“We have our moments,” Maggie replied.

“Do you have a picture?”

“Uh, yeah,” and she showed Waverly her phone background. Both Nicole and Waverly crowded around it, scrutinising the hurried selfie they’d taken in the park the other week. She suddenly felt very vulnerable.

“She’s cute,” Nicole said, looking up at last.

“And a redhead,” Waverly smiled, glancing at Nicole’s hair, “you make a great couple.”

“Yeah, we do,” Maggie said, smiling at the photo as her phone was handed back.

“Where did you guys meet?” Nicole asked.

“Work,” Maggie said, “What about you two?”

“Uh…” they both looked at each other.

“Oh wait, you told me on the ride here. You met at Shorty’s.”

“Yeah but we got together…” Waverly began.

“On that couch,” Nicole finished, pointing feebly at the couch Maggie was sat on.

Maggie resisted the temptation to leap immediately off the couch, “huh,” she managed to mumble.

“Don’t worry,” Waverly said, “Nothing gross happened. We just kissed.”

Maggie nodded, “Ok, cool,” she stammered.

“Anyway,” Nicole said, smiling falsely at the two of them and looking at the stack of paperwork.

“Yes!” Waverly enthused, “where were we?” and she back on the couch next to Maggie and leafed back through the file, “Where did you get up to with Wynonna?”

“Uh, we didn’t get that far. It might be for the best if you take it from the beginning.”

“I was hoping you’d say that.”

As Waverly took Maggie through the file and the history of all of the revenants, Nicole tapped her computer awake in the hope of actually discovering why Maggie was there. She thought they’d seen the last of the interference from Top Secret US Government organisations with Xavier Dolls. It had certainly taken some adjustment to get used to his presence and she wasn’t sure how she was now going to account for Maggie especially if nobody really knew why she was there. Whilst Maggie herself was ok, what she potentially represented was not and it set Nicole on edge. This wasn’t helped by the revelation that Supergirl was actually real. She’d never felt threatened by Waverly’s preoccupation before but flight was something she’d never be able to compete with. Her inbox held no answers about Maggie or the NCPD; there was one email forwarded to her by Nedley with the NCPD header that simply said they’d be ‘hosting a visit’ for an indefinite period of time and appropriate arrangements should be made. This was accompanied by a request for the use of Nicole’s spare room from Nedley and the expectation that she’d collect Maggie from the airport. It was only Nicole’s assumptions and Maggie’s alien revelation that meant she was now sat on that couch with Waverly dissecting all of Purgatory’s biggest secrets. She really hoped Maggie wasn’t here just to deal with the upsurge in sexual harassment cases otherwise Nicole was royally screwed.

***

After Waverly’s crash course in revenants, Maggie took advantage of Wynonna’s absence and sprawled across the sofa; she had chosen to ignore its romantic history and focus on its structural integrity. Her head was reeling slightly from Waverly’s potted history of demonic activity in Purgatory and she almost wished she could revert back to the point where she was left with nothing to do other than play solitaire. Aliens were one thing, but angry cowboys coming back from the dead was something else entirely.

It got worse when Wynonna burst back into the office, swept Maggie’s feet aside and threw herself onto the sofa, “Don’t get too comfy,” she said, “there’s a man outside with a gun and an axe in his head.”

“Revenant?” Waverly asked. She’d moved from the sofa as soon as the tutorial was done and was perched happily on Nicole’s desk.

“Oh yes,” Wynonna grinned.

“Did you get him?” Nicole added.

“Nope,” Wynonna said, still grinning.

“You’re literally holding Peacemaker,” Nicole frowned.

“Good observation skills, Haught,” Wynonna said, pointing approvingly at her, “You should be a cop.”

“So you’re telling me you saw a revenant out there in the street and you didn’t send him back to hell?” Nicole said carefully.

“Did you not hear the part where I said he had an axe in his head? He ain’t going anywhere fast.”

“But still…”

“I thought it would be an ideal opportunity to show the newest member of the scoobie gang how we roll,” and she stood up dramatically, spinning the gun clumsily around her finger.

Maggie realised with a start that she was talking about her and jumped to her feet, “so what are we waiting for?” she said, automatically reaching for the gun she didn’t have before heading towards the door feeling very exposed. She hesitated in the doorway, unexpectedly nervous, before Wynonna pushed her aside and barged out of the door ahead of her.

***

Outside, Maggie realised Wynonna wasn’t lying: there really was a man outside with a gun in his hand and an axe in his head. Purgatory was apparently a town of roughly five people so thankfully he was the only person out there. Maggie wondered if his presenting minimal threat to local residents was why Wynonna was so relaxed in the office but she suspected it was more likely that she just liked winding up Nicole. She looked longingly at Nicole’s gun which was already aimed at their guy. Waverly was stood between the two of them practically jumping up and down in excitement.

“Oi Waves!” Wynonna called, raising Peacemaker, “What have I said? No gun, no play. You too city chick.” When Waverly and Maggie just blinked at her, Wynonna shoved them aside and lined up her gun which - to Maggie’s surprise - had started to glow. Wynonna cocked the gun, muttered something to herself and fired. Maggie expected the guy to just fall down. She wasn’t expecting any blood as the guy was already dead but what she certainly didn’t expect was a literal entrance-way to hell to open up in the middle of the pot-holed street and suck the guy into it. All Maggie could do was stand there, frozen in a mix of shock and awe but Wynonna, Waverly and Nicole just shrugged and headed back inside. Maggie was still stood there when Waverly came back out and gently led her back inside.

Once inside, Wynonna handed her a half empty bottle of whisky and encouraged her to take several large swigs before making room for her on the sofa. “Not bad for a newbie,” she said and wrestled the bottle off her, “I definitely thought you’d faint or throw up.”

“It was a close call,” Maggie said shakily.

“At least you know what it’s like now,” Nicole said and raised her mug in Maggie’s direction.

“If we’re gonna do that again,” Maggie said breathlessly, “You’re gonna need to loan me a gun.”

“It won’t do anything,” Wynonna said, “Only this one can take down a revenant,” she held up Peacemaker.

“But…” Nicole said,” I’m sure we’d all feel a lot better if you were armed. I’m sure I can find you something,” and she rooted around in the bottom of a drawer for a set of keys.

“Hang on!” Maggie said, “There’s only one gun that can take down a revenant?”

“And I’m the only one who can fire it,” Wynonna said, “Earp curse and all.”

“So why am I here?” Maggie asked.

“That’s looking like a mystery that’ll never get solved,” Wynonna said and Waverly quickly started rummaging through piles of paper as if joining Nicole in her hunt for the key. 

*** 

An hour - and several swigs later - Maggie allowed herself to feel a little bit excited by what she’d discovered. She felt more secure with the gun Nicole had found her although it was a far cry from what she was used to in the City. Purgatory might not have aliens but it certainly had more than enough going on to make it interesting. Wynonna had persuaded Nicole and Waverly to buy her a drink in Shorty’s and whilst Maggie had been invited, she’d elected to stay in the office to process what had gone on. The only snag in Maggie’s involvement was that the problem could only be dealt with with a magic gun that could only be used by one person and that person wasn’t her. She couldn’t help but feel a little redundant. What she realised though was that her bosses back home didn’t know any of that and they’d only find out if she told them which she was reluctant to do, at least for now. Slowly a plan fell in place in her mind. She sent an email to the NCPD with a slightly fabricated version of events, suggesting that they send a DEO agent as back up. Then she called Alex.

“Danvers!” she said excitedly.

“Maggie! How’s it going?”

“You know, it’s not bad,” Maggie said, “I’ve not pissed off any more locals and there’s definitely some weird shit happening.”

“Alien?” Alex said hopefully.

“Not quite but I haven’t told the NCPD that,” Maggie smiled, “What I have done is ask for a DEO agent as back up so what do you think? Do you wanna come to Canada and get your winter gear back?”

“I mean, I’d love to Mags but when the request comes through, J’onn could choose anyone. And you know, I am kind of important so he might not wanna let me go.”

“But you’re his favourite right?” Maggie said hopefully.

“Maggie…” Alex said and Maggie could hear how sensible she was trying to be.

“Please…” Maggie pleaded, “It’ll be so much fun and I really miss you.”

“But if there aren’t any aliens, couldn’t you just come home?”

“There may not be aliens but that doesn’t mean there isn’t some really cool shit going on.”

“Now that does sound intriguing,” Alex said, her voice lightening and the excitement bleeding in.

“And you can meet Nicole and the others,” Maggie said excitedly, ”Did you know there’s a Purgatory Pride?”

“Ok. Ok. I’ll see what I can do,” Alex said.

“I love you.”

“I love you.”

***

After calling Alex, Maggie just stayed on the sofa flicking through the files trying to match the faded photos with what she’d just witnessed in the street. Eventually Waverly and Nicole returned with a slightly reluctant Wynonna in tow. They also had coffee which Maggie suddenly felt in desperate need of: the whiskey had taken effect and she was struggling to tell all the cowboys apart. Maggie stood up automatically - allowing Wynonna to immediately sprawl across the sofa - and found herself stood awkwardly in the middle of the room.

“So guess what,” she began.

They all looked up at her expectantly.

“Alex is hopefully coming up here to ‘help’ with the investigation,” she said smiling nervously at them.

“Do we need any more help?” Wynonna asked, “Who’s Alex anyway?”

“My girlfriend,” Maggie frowned. “And no, you seem to have this situation... under control. But I just thought it might be fun!”

“Oh my gosh,” Waverly exclaimed, “That would be so amazing. We could go on double dates…”

“I honestly can’t wait!” Maggie grinned.


	5. Send in the Back-up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alex Danvers arrives in Purgatory and is quickly introduced to all that the town has to offer.

Maggie was in a state of blissful shock when she finally got to bed. There was crazy shit going on - fun crazy shit, she’d hopefully made some friends and most importantly, her girlfriend was coming over to join in on all the chaos. As she’d predicted, it hadn’t been hard for Alex to persuade J’onn to assign the mission to her. By the time they’d stumbled out of the Sheriff’s department, Alex had called to confirm that the mission had been assigned to her. Even though Alex was considerably over qualified for a trip to Canada, he was a romantic at heart liked to facilitate any opportunity he could for the two of them to work together. There was a risk that J’onn could end up sending additional back up due to the creative exaggeration of the report Maggie had sent in but it was likely that, if that were the case, he’d send Supergirl and Supergirl’s arrival wouldn’t be that bad. Waverly would be delighted, Maggie thought. Nicole less so though.

Getting Alex from the airport was proving to be a bit of a challenge though. Nicole, it turned out, was quite a stickler for regulations and had refused to loan her the patrol car. She was working on Wynonna to let her use the Earp truck but Maggie found out at breakfast that this attempt at persuasion had simply ended with Waverly stealing the keys.

“I’d do a lot of things to reunite two love-birds,” she smiled, “petty theft is only the start,” and she handed over the keys.

“Waves, I appreciate the sentiment but sometimes I’d really like it if you could remember what my job is,” Nicole said from the stove.

“I’m also a cop but I’m prepared to let this one slide,” Maggie grinned as she pocketed the keys.

“What time’s her flight get in?” Nicole asked.

“Midday.”

Waverly winced, “Ooohh you’re gonna want to hit the road pretty soon.”

“That’s the plan,” Maggie said, getting up from the table.

“Hold up,” Nicole said abruptly, “I’ve packed you a thermos and snacks for the journey.”

“Awww, thanks. That’s really sweet.”

“Don’t mention it,” Nicole said, batting a hand.

“Ok, I better get going,” Maggie said, accepting the bag and thermos, “I’ll see you later. And thanks for letting Alex crash here.”

“We’re just excited to meet her,” Waverly said, clasping her hands excitedly.

***

The drive to the airport was long and incredibly boring and she appreciated Nicole even more as she’d done it for a complete stranger. Her visit to Purgatory was the first time she’d been to Canada and she’d been forced to conclude that the country was pretty much empty. The road to the airport was bordered by an expanse of nothingness with brutalist mountains in the distance. She was thankful for Alex’s toughness; there weren’t many girlfriends who’d take kindly to being summoned to the middle of nowhere for an unspecified mission especially considering the absence of aliens.

As she walked briskly to arrivals, she wished she’d brought a sign with Alex’s name on it before wondering if the cutesiness of Nicole and Waverly was rubbing off on her. Alex was stood at the side, partially hidden by a pillar with her arms folded and her suitcase at her feet. Her face broke into an unrestrained smile when she spotted Maggie and she stretched her arms out ready to greet her. Maggie broke into a run and threw herself into her girlfriend’s arms.

“Hey!” Alex said into Maggie’s hair, “I take it you missed me.”

“You’re becoming quite the detective, Danvers,” Maggie grinned before kissing Alex.

“It’s only been a couple of days,” Alex said as they broke apart.

“But they’ve been a long couple of days,” Maggie said, looping Alex’s hair behind her ear.

“Well, you can tell me all about it on the drive back.”

“Don’t worry, I will,” Maggie said as she grabbed the case and hooked her arm through Alex’s.

***

The beat up truck was a far cry from the motorbike Alex was used to but at least it meant she was used to bumpy rides. Maggie’s journey back felt much shorter with Alex at her side. She explained the revenant situation and the curse of the Earps and The Ghost River triangle and enjoyed watching Alex’s face light up in excitement.

“And you’re sure this isn’t alien?” Alex asked when Maggie got to the end of her tale.

“Positive.”

Alex frowned, “And there’s really nothing we can actually do?”

“That’s right,” Maggie said, grinning at Alex in the rear view mirror, “There’s one weapon that works and one person who can use it.”

“So why am I here?” Alex exclaimed, “Why are you here?”

“I thought it might be fun,” Maggie said tentatively, “We can think of it like a vacation.”

“Just with gun-wielding demons.”

“But they’re mostly just regular guns so it’s much safer than National City really. Even better, I don’t think any of them can fly.”

“Ok. You’ve convinced me. I’m glad you lied on a report to get me sent her,” Alex grinned, “and not just because I get to see you.”

“And I haven’t even got to the best part.”

“Really?!” Alex asked incredulously which was Maggie’s cue to start filling her in on Wynonna and how she’d won her round, kind of. She made sure she didn’t gloss over Doc and his thwarted flirting and the mysterious Dolls who she was unlikely to ever meet. Not forgetting Nicole and Waverly and the imminence of many double dates.

***

By the time they pulled up outside Nicole’s house, Maggie had truly won Alex over to Purgatory life. Nicole wasn’t home - she was either at work or at Waverly’s Maggie explained. Maggie had begun a tour of the house but the focus had quickly become their bedroom: there wasn’t much to see anyway. Then Alex decided that she really wanted to see the town and Maggie pretended that she knew the town well enough to show her around.

Their first stop was the sheriff’s department which was worryingly empty. Nicole was clearly very busy with Waverly. Alex did a terrible job of masking how unimpressive she thought it was although she did lighten up considerably when she saw the ridiculousness of Maggie’s completely empty desk. Maggie got her revenge by waiting until Alex was comfy on the couch before telling her its history and watching her squirm in discomfort, peering suspiciously at the cushions.

After the limited tour and Alex had made 100% sure that they weren’t going to get through the mystery door without blasting it with her gun (something Nicole was bound to notice) especially as the gun was back in National City, they begun their meander down the street in an attempt to ‘explore’ Purgatory.

“So… how are you finding your vacation?” Maggie asked.

“I probably would have preferred somewhere with a beach,” Alex said, playfully squeezing Maggie’s hand, “but I am excited for demon hunting.”

“Revenant,” Maggie corrected.

“Get you! You’re practically a local,” Alex teased, “is it always this cold here?” she asked, pulling her coat tight around her.

“Yep, I’ll make sure you get some of your socks back,” Maggie said and pulled Alex through a doorway, “Let’s get a drink,” and they stepped inside Shorty’s.

Both Alex and Maggie were regulars at the alien dive bar so they’d forgotten what it was like for a bar to fall silent when you step inside. Maggie looked around frantically for a familiar face but was disappointed so she settled Alex in a booth in the corner before heading to the bar with more than a little trepidation. She was just about to attempt getting the attention of the bartender when she heard her name being called. Waverly was behind her, beaming at her excitedly.

“Waverly, hi!” Maggie said, glad to see a familiar face.

“So,” Waverly said, diving straight in, “is she here?”

It took Maggie a moment to figure out what Waverly was talking about, “Oh, uh,” she said eventually, “Alex, Yeah. She’s in that corner booth,” she said pointing at Alex who was looking nervously around her. Waverly skipped over to the table leaving Maggie to get the drinks.

When she got back, Alex was just finishing off telling Waverly about the journey she’d had.

“Thanks for the truck,” Maggie said as she sat down beside Alex.

“No worries! Have you got the keys? I’ll drive it back to the homestead. Hopefully Wynonna won’t have noticed it’s gone.”

“Wynonna’s your sister, right?” Alex asked.

“So you were listening,” Maggie said, impressed.

“Yes. Wynonna’s my sister. She’s the heir. I’m the spare,” Waverly laughed as she said this but the falseness in her giggle was obvious.

“And will I get to meet Nicole?” Alex said.

“Definitely!” Waverly said as Maggie looked at her girlfriend with pride: it was no mean feat keeping up with the slew of information Maggie had inflicted on her. “In fact,” Waverly continued, “What are you doing tonight?”

“Nothing, I think,” Alex said, looking at Maggie for confirmation.

“Yeah, I hadn’t thought much beyond picking you up from the airport,” Maggie said.

“Fantastic!” Waverly said, clapping her hands excitedly, “Why don’t you come over to the homestead for dinner? It’ll be like a double date but with Wynonna and Doc so a triple date, depending on how things are between those two.”

“Cool,” Maggie and Alex said.

“About seven work for you?”

They both glanced at each other before nodding eagerly.


	6. The Motel

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alex gets a rather abrupt introduction to Wynonna and the true extent of what Purgatory has to offer with a hair-raising trip to a motel.

Their trip to Shorty’s was short lived; despite both being highly trained law enforcement officials, Alex and Maggie struggled to stick around with lots of guys in plaid shirts leering at them. Having rapidly ascertained that Purgatory didn’t have much to offer beyond Shorty’s, they’d wound up back in the Sheriff’s department. Maggie had found Alex a chair - she’d liberated the one remaining one from the waiting area - and was attempting to make coffee with the temperamental machine in the kitchen when Wynonna burst in through the door swinging Peacemaker around on her index finger.

“Let’s go losers,” she announced, ducking to avoid her gun smacking her in the head, “we’ve got a live one. Or rather a used to be live one.” she smiled to herself before clapping to hurry them all along.

“That’s Wynonna,” Maggie murmured to Alex.

“I figured,” Alex muttered back.

Wynonna looked around the room at Nicole’s obviously deserted desk, “looks like it’s just me and the city cops. You must be her girlfriend,” she said, looking at Alex, “I would say nice to meet you but there’s no time.”

Alex glanced at Maggie as they were forced to sprint out of the office, looking for an explanation that Maggie didn’t have. Wynonna bundled them into the truck and Alex was squeezed in between the two of them. Before Maggie had shut her door, Wynonna had pumped the gas and swung the wheel violently starting off a hair-raising u-turn. Alex braced herself against her girlfriend and tried not to think about the gun that Wynonna had left in her lap especially as it looked far too old to have a safety.

“Are you going to let us in on what’s going on, then?” Maggie asked, glancing past Alex at Wynonna.

“You mean I didn’t tell you? My bad,” Wynonna said, taking her eyes off the road for an alarmingly long time, “There’s a bad guy and we need to send him back to hell.”

“That’s all we’re getting?” Alex asked incredulously.

“That’s all I got.”

“Great,” Maggie said and she reached for the hand of Alex who had visibly paled at this information, or absence of it. Alex’s job was high-risk but everything she did was thoroughly planned; she wasn’t really a fan of chaos and Maggie was beginning to think maybe it wasn’t the best idea to have invited her especially as she hadn’t had a chance to find Alex her own gun. Things got worse when Wynonna made such a sudden right turn that Maggie worried Alex was going to be sick. She drove a bit further at break-neck speed before stamping on the brakes and bringing them to an abrupt halt outside a sketchy looking motel.

“Ok, here’s the deal,” Wynonna began, “I have no idea what the deal is. Nedley just told me to get my ass here. My ass is now here so I’m guessing we’ll just figure the next bit out together.”

Neither Alex or Maggie had any words left to respond to this. They all clambered out of the truck and made their way towards the entrance of the motel. The door was blown open by a gust of wind from within and Maggie grabbed her gun in shock. Alex grabbed Maggie. Wynonna just laughed and kicked the door fully open and stepped into the dingy reception area. The carpet was matted with chewing gum and other suspicious substances and the counter was covered with a thick layer of dust. There was no sign of life, revenant or otherwise.

Maggie could see that Alex was readying herself to carry out a stealth search by eyeing the floor plan that was pinned behind the desk but Wynonna had other ideas. She snatched Maggie’s gun and fired two rounds into the air. The ceiling was low and she was greeted with a chunk of plaster which narrowly missed her head, “I had a big lunch,” she explained, “the revenants can come to us.”

All three of them stood, unmoving, ears pricked for any sign of movement. Alex had positioned herself with her back to Maggie - a standard operational tactic - but Wynonna had elected to lean nonchalant against the counter. This meant that she only noticed the revenant coming up behind her when Maggie started firing at her head, “What the hell!” she yelled as she crouched down to avoid the hail of bullets. Then she noticed the other pair of feet beneath the counter. They were clad in sensible brown lace up shoes with rubber soles and woollen stockings had bunched up around the ankles. Wynonna wrinkled her nose at the offensive combination and threw herself backwards so she was lying on the floor, giving her a clear view of her target. She fired upwards and scrambled backwards until she collided with Alex’s knees as the mouth of hell opened up.

Just then Nicole burst into the already cramped reception area and took in Maggie with her weapon drawn and Wynonna sprawled on the floor. She pointed her own gun at the standing pair until Wynonna started laughing hysterically, “Wait, do you think,” she said between gasping breaths, “do you think they attacked me?”

“Well, you are on the floor and I heard gunshots,” Nicole said as she sheepishly tucked her gun back in its holster.

“Nope. Just a standard revenant situation.”

“Did they come in through the ceiling?” Nicole asked looking first at the gaping hole above her and then at the chunks of plaster everywhere.

“That would be me,” Wynonna grinned.

Nicole’s eyebrows shot up in surprise, “You came in through the ceiling?”

“No. I know how to use a door, dumbass,” Wynonna retorted, “I just needed to do something so they knew I was here.”

“And you couldn’t have just rung the bell?”

The three of them looked across at the counter where Nicole was pointing at the bell that was now partially buried under dust. Wynonna just smiled and shrugged at Nicole.

“Anyway,” Nicole said, blinking in despair, “did you get him?”

“Her,” Wynonna corrected, “and we did. Those shoes alone were reason enough for banishment.”

Nicole rolled her eyes and turned on her heel, “We better get going before we end up trying to answer a lot of awkward questions.”

“You ok?” Maggie asked as she squeezed Alex’s hand.

Alex took a breath before answering, “That. Was. Awesome.”

“Really? ‘Cos there was at least one moment where I thought you were going to throw up.”

“Me too. I mean, this is nothing like the DEO but it’s so much fun.”

“I know. I’m just worried we’re gonna get arrested. And we need to find you a gun if there’s going to be a next time.”

“It happens a lot,” Wynonna said, butting in, “but we’ve got our Haught cop over there to smooth things over. And she’ll probably get you a gun too.”

“You can’t rely on me too often,” Nicole called across at them.

“We can,” Wynonna said so that only Maggie and Alex could hear.

“I cannot wait for dinner tonight,” Alex said.

“Why?” Wynonna said, “are you going anywhere nice?”

“I hope so. You’re hosting,” Maggie teased.


	7. 80% of the women here aren’t interested in you

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The night of the dinner party of the year comes around as Alex and Maggie finally appreciate what it is they’ve got themselves into.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to everyone who has stuck with this this far. I hope you all enjoyed it as much I enjoyed writing it!

Wynonna had sped off abruptly from the motel leaving Nicole to drive them back to the Sheriff’s department. They didn’t speak much: Nicole was evidently pissed at the being usurped by two interlopers from the wrong side of the border. She dropped them off outside the office with a muttered story about meeting Waverly at the bar.

“Did we do something wrong?” Alex asked, glancing at Nicole’s retreating figure, “’cos I was really hoping she’d find me a gun.”

“I’m not sure,” Maggie said, following her gaze, “Anyway, what do you think?”

“Definitely not alien.”

“You’re sure?” Maggie held the door of the office open for her.

“If it was and we were sending them back where they came from, they’d be going up not down.”

Maggie laughed, “Are you going to tell J’onn?”

Alex grinned, “Not yet. I think there’s a lot more where they came from and I don’t wanna miss any of it.”

“So you’re glad you came?” Maggie asked, once again trying to make sense of the coffee machine.

“Definitely. You were right, this is like a vacation,” Alex grinned and pulled Maggie in from behind for a hug, “And I love your new friends.”

“Friends is a strong word, Danvers.”

“I’m going with it because this makes this the first time I’ve met your friends,” Alex murmured into her ear, “Wynonna’s really something. I’d love to, you know, let her loose in the DEO and see what happens.”

“Damn, Danvers. Purgatory really has changed you,” Maggie laughed, “wait until you see Waverly again. I’d give it about five seconds before she starts quizzing you about Supergirl tonight.”

They were interrupted by an assertive knock on the door, “Come in,” they called and Nicole poked her head around the door.

“Hey,” she said cautiously.

“Hey!” they both said.

“Sorry I was a bit cranky before. I got left out of bunch of times before and it’s a bit of a sore spot,” she explained, “but that’s not your fault.”

“It’s cool,” Maggie said.

“We get it. I’d be the same,” Alex added.

“Anyway I was going to head over to the homestead soon, if you wanted a ride,” she offered, “Waverly’s already there so she can start on the cooking. I hope you’re ok with vegan?”

“Sounds great,” Maggie laughed as Alex pulled a face. Nicole looked puzzled but held the door open for them to follow her out. The coffee was abandoned. 

The trip to the homestead was short but it took them right out of the town and onto the edge of civilisation. They pulled up in the ramshackle front yard and couldn’t help but notice Wynonna’s truck which was less parked, more abandoned.

“Hopefully this means she’s turned up,” Nicole muttered as they pulled up alongside it.

“Doesn’t she live here?” Maggie asked.

“Yeah but the amount of time she spends here is minimal.”

“Where does she go?” Alex asked.

“Who knows,” Nicole exhaled as she swung her legs out of the car.

They trudged down the space that was once a path, carefully avoiding the treacherous puddles. Before they’d reached the dilapidated porch, the front door burst open and Waverly flew out into Nicole’s arms. Maggie and Alex exchanged awkward glances and self-consciously linked arms during the extended embrace that followed. They broke apart eventually and Waverly led them merrily inside the house. Wynonna had turned up and was sat scowling at the table with Doc beside her.

“This is Doc,” Maggie said squeezing Alex’s arm, “he tried to hit on me when we first met.”

“Hey, Doc,” Wynonna said, slapping him on the thigh, “80% of the women here are definitely not interested in you. How does that make you feel?”

“Optimistic about the remaining 20%,” he said smoothly and leaned in for a kiss.

Wynonna pushed his face away, “not in front of the lesbians,” she said but gave him a look that suggested anything could happen later on when they were out of sight of the others.

“Okay,” Waverly said standing between Wynonna and Doc, “I’ve made personalised place settings so find your seats.”

They sat down obediently; Alex and Maggie were sat together - of course - and they both smiled to themselves when they saw the carefully drawn Supergirl S next to their names. Wynonna had a gun - as did Doc - and Nicole had a unicorn wearing a Stetson. Waverly skipped around the table filling up glasses and stirring several pots that were bubbling along on the stove.

“Does she know neither of us are Supergirl?” Alex whispered to Maggie as she picked up her name label.

“I think so but she knows that we know Supergirl and that’s enough.”

“You haven’t told her just how well I know Supergirl though?” Alex muttered.

“Of course not. It is fun to watch Nicole’s jealousy whenever Waverly mentions her though.”

“She wouldn’t be so reverential if she’d ever shared a pizza with her.”

“Shared? More like watched her demolish it solo,” Alex said and took a sip of the very full glass she’d been handed.

“What are we talking about?” Waverly asked as she set a large bowl of salad in the centre of the table and Maggie and Alex fell silent.

“There’s no way I’m eating any of that,” Wynonna said, looking disgusted. Waverly ignored her.

“Do you want any help baby?” Nicole asked sweetly, looping her arm around Waverly’s waist.

“No, it’s ok. You can just relax,” Waverly answered and rested her arm on her girlfriend’s shoulder.

Nicole sat back in her chair looking very far from relaxed.

“I know what would get this party going,” Wynonna said with a mischievous grin and she grabbed a bottle of worryingly pink liquid and a collection of shot glasses, “Bubblegum Sake.”

“Wynonna!” Waverly exclaimed, “What have I said about drinking my stuff? Especially before we’ve eaten,” she said, reaching for the bottle.

“Fine!” Wynonna pouted.

After that, everyone just sat still and in silence taking frequent sips of their drinks and exchanging awkward glances with their partners until Waverly delicately cleared her throat, “dinner is served,” she announced nervously before setting a substantial serving dish on the table.

“Care to explain what dinner is?” Wynonna said, peering suspiciously inside.

“It’s a vegan stew,” Waverly said tentatively looking wide-eyed at her guests.

Doc and Wynonna scoffed audibly as Nicole, Maggie and Alex smiled encouragingly. 

“It looks delicious, baby,” Nicole said over-enthusiastically and began serving.

Alex was relieved to find that vegan stew was much nicer than vegan ice cream and it gave them all something to do after that uncomfortable silence.

“So your girlfriend told us that you work for some other top secret government organisation,” Wynonna said, looking at Alex as if challenging her.

Alex almost choked on her mouthful of stew and Maggie looked sheepishly into her lap knowing Alex would say she’d said too much, “How many top secret government organisations are there?” Alex said, deliberately avoiding the question.

“Maggie’s told us all about the aliens in National City too,” Waverly said, “and she’s told us a bit about Supergirl but we’re really excited to hear more.”

“You’re excited. We all know that the only story Nicole wants to hear is the one where Supergirl falls out of the sky,” Wynonna said, smiling gleefully as Nicole’s cheeks flushed red.

“She has done that before,” Maggie said.

“Really?” Nicole exclaimed excitedly, her cheeks then reddening even more.

“Yeah but she was fine,” Alex said somewhat defensively.

“This is hilarious,” Wynonna said chuckling.

“Who is this Supergirl?” Doc drawled, looking bewildered between the clamouring voices.

“She’s literally the greatest person ever,” Waverly enthused as Nicole looked like she was about to punch someone. “Apart from you of course,” she continued, reaching for Nicole’s hand.

“Ok. Let’s get this over with,” Nicole said flatly, “tells us what it’s like to work with Supergirl.”

“Kinda annoying,” Maggie said, avoiding Alex’s death stare and enjoying the way Waverly’s face fell.

“We all know what it’s like to work with annoying people,” Wynonna said. She squinted at Nicole, “I’m looking at you, Haught.”

“The feeling’s mutual,” Nicole said, holding the stare until they both grinned and stuck their tongues out at each other.

“Is she really annoying?” Waverly asked, looking crestfallen.

“No,” Alex said, smiling reassuringly, “her and Maggie just don’t always see eye to eye. She is pretty great.”

“Yeah, she can fly and she always defeats the alien and saves the world. That is pretty great,” Maggie said, not really trying to reign in the sarcasm.

“Do you think she’d be able to help here?” Waverly asked quietly.

“Only if she’s the yet to be discovered fourth Earp sister,” Wynonna said, obviously bored with the conversation.

“I don’t think demon hunting’s really her thing,” Alex said reassuringly as Nicole left the table and loudly clattered the dishes around the sink.

“Right, I’m calling it,” Wynonna announced slamming her palms down on the table and standing up, “it’s time for the sake.”

“Wynonna!” Waverly exclaimed but it was too late; Wynonna had opened the bottle and was doing a poor imitation of a bartender as she poured the shots.

Several shots later had them all settled on the porch, swaddled in blankets. Wynonna had managed to get a fire started with a scary amount of petrol and Maggie realised she was incredibly happy, snuggled up with girlfriend and warmed by the roaring flames. Waverly and Nicole had formed a human burrito on the other side of the porch and were clearly only interested in each other, “they’re giving us a run for our money in the cutest couple awards,” Alex murmured, snaking her arm around Maggie’s waist.

“It’s a lot,” Maggie agreed. “It’s hilarious that Waverly’s got such a crush on your sister though.”

“Don’t tell Nicole this,” Wynonna said and waited until she knew Nicole was listening, “I think Supergirl’s Waverly’s first love,” she grinned as Nicole frowned at her.

Alex giggled, “poor Nicole.”

They watched as Waverly and Nicole’s faces got closer and closer as they whispered and smiled at each other; Waverly still clearly on a mission to prove she only had eyes for Nicole. Just as they were about to kiss, Wynonna came up behind them, stepped over the blanket binding them together and sat on it, forcing them apart. Alex, Maggie and Doc laughed hysterically as Wynonna sat triumphantly between the sprawled bodies.

“So Mrs City Chick,” Wynonna called to Alex, “does your Top Secret Organisation have any idea why your girlfriend was sent here?”

“The DEO, I mean the NCPD,” Alex corrected hurriedly, “scan for anything that might seem extra-terrestrial although they tend not to go this far north.”

“The D. E. what?”

“Sometimes we get tip-offs though,” Alex said.

“Yeah,” Maggie agreed, “that may have been what happened here. I didn’t wanna tell you in case you got all panicky that there was someone spying on you but then you did that anyway.”

“So someone snitched on us?” Wynonna said, horrified.

“Who do you think it could have been?” Nicole asked.

“Well it wasn’t me,” Doc drawled from his corner on the porch.

“That’s obvious,” Wynonna said, “we’ve all seen you try to work your phone. An email is clearly beyond you.”

Waverly, who by now had righted herself and crept behind Wynonna back into Nicole’s arms, squeaked involuntarily.

“Hey sis,” Wynonna said, “you ok?”

“Yep. I, I, I just, uh, saw a racoon.”

“A raccoon?” Wynonna asked, raising an eyebrow, “You’re the brains here, we were really hoping you might have a theory about where the leak could be.”

“Nope, no clue,” Waverly said, her voice so high pitched it was on the verge of being inaudible.

“Really?” Nicole added. By now everyone was looking at Waverly and the cogs were drunkenly whirring.

“Was it the raccoon who snitched on us?” Wynonna asked slowly, adjusting her position so she was once again sat between the couple.

“No…”

“Waves?” Nicole said quietly.

“Ok. Fine,” Waverly said, “I spend a lot of time on Youtube watching videos of Supergirl,” she stood up dramatically, “and I read a bunch of articles online and I thought if I told the NCPD what was happening here, they’d send her to help.”

“Did you really think she’d be able to help? Because we all know that none of the revenants are aliens,” Wynonna said.

“No,” Waverly sat down, deflated, “I just really wanted to meet her.”

“And instead you got us,” Alex said.

“And Nicole is all the happier for it,” Maggie added, raising her beer in their direction.

“Seeing as the city chicks are cool lesbians, we’ll forgive you,” Wynonna said pulling her into a hug, “but snitch on us again and you’ll get the same punishment you did when we were kids.”

Waverly’s face paled, “I promise,” she mumbled.

“And you never know,” Alex added, “We might be able to get Supergirl to do a fly-by,” and she buried her head into Maggie’s shoulder to avoid Nicole’s inevitable death stare as Wynonna punched the air in delight.


End file.
